Quick Summary
The Olmsted County Historical Society recently shared photographs and letters about their founding and early history with the Minnesota Digital Library.
In the early 1920s, residents of Olmsted County began to discuss the idea of forming a society dedicated to collecting and preserving the history of their county. After reaching out to Solon J. Buck, Superintendent of the Minnesota Historical Society, for advice and support, Rochester leaders held a community meeting in 1926 to organize the Olmsted County Historical Society. They adopted a constitution and elected officers that February, and soon began their work.
By 1940, the Olmsted County Historical Society opened a museum in the lower level of the Rochester Public Library. They later moved to the former Bethel Lutheran English Church in the 1950s, and have been growing ever since.
The Society recently shared photographs and letters documenting the founding of their organization and its early history with the Minnesota Digital Library (MDL). A highlight of the collection includes an open letter addressed to “The People of Olmsted County,” urging them to attend the meeting and support the society. They added, “Ladies, especially, are invited.”
View the collection in MDL today.
Image credit: Officers and hostesses of the Olmsted County Historical Society at the museum opening on February 10, 1940, in Rochester: https://collection.mndigital.org/catalog/olms:1883
